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| Down Under |
| Australia holds five suspected of plotting sailing trip to join ISIS |
| 2016-05-11 |
| [Jpost] Australian police have detained five men suspected of planning to sail a small boat from the far north to Indonesia and the Philippines en route to joining Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... in Syria, officials said on Wednesday. The men were held on Tuesday after towing the seven-meter boat almost 3,000 km (1,865 miles) from Melbourne to Cairns in Queensland state, police said. Australia has come under criticism for its tough immigration policies aimed at stopping asylum seekers taking boats from Indonesia to Australia, but few are believed to have attempted the journey in the opposite direction. "We're investigating the allegation they were planning to make their way through Indonesia to the Philippines, with a view to ending up in Syria," Victoria state Deputy Police Commissioner Shane Patton told news hounds in Melbourne. "It's not a common occurrence, I would suggest, people trying to get to Syria via boat, but I don't have the exact figures for sure." The five had not yet been charged. Under tough new security powers passed in 2014, Australian face up to a decade in prison for overseas travel to areas declared off limits, which includes the province of Raqqa in Syria, a key strategic hub for Islamic State myrmidons. Australia, a staunch US ally, has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown murderous Moslems since 2014 and authorities say they have thwarted a number of potential attacks, while there have been several "lone wolf" assaults, including a cafe siege in Sydney that left two hostages and the gunman dead. Approximately 100 people have left Australia for Syria to fight alongside organizations such as Islamic State, Australia's Immigration Minister said last month. Police said it was unclear where the men, aged between 21 and 33, had planned to put the boat in the water. Indonesia and Australia share a maritime border, but it spans several hundred kilometers of open sea at its narrowest point. The Australian Broadcasting Corp said that Melbourne-born radical preacher Musa Cerantonio, a vocal supporter of the Islamic State who was deported from the Philippines to Australia in 2014, was among those detained. Cerantonio, who converted to Islam from Catholicism at 17, was believed to be planning to join Islamic State when he was deported for having "invalid travel documentation." He was placed under surveillance but not jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! upon his return. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #5 "I would have let them go." Me too, EU. In fact, I would have helped them go |
| Posted by: Barbara 2016-05-11 18:53 |
| #4 Seven meters is about 22 feet. You get caught in a storm out on the ocean and it's gonna get real dicey in a boat that size. The police did them a favor. I would have let them go. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2016-05-11 17:55 |
| #3 I was spoofing on the landlocked country... guess I failed |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-05-11 14:23 |
| #2 Frank: Karachi. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2016-05-11 10:27 |
| #1 "We were gonna try to get to Afghanistan by boat but couldn't identify a port there" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-05-11 10:21 |